British GT, Rockingham – Short Race 1 Report
Top Step For Beechdean

Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam scored a famous victory at Rockingham when they steered the #7 Beechdean Motorsports Aston Martin DBRS9 through the spray to the flag with an advantage of 41 seconds over the #22 Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS. This was Beechdean’s first win in the championship.

The race began in a highly dramatic and confusing fashion. First the pole-sitting #23 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS fell to the back of the grid as Mike Guasch struggled to get away, and then those runners – more than half of the field – that started on slick tyres discovered immediately that they had made the wrong choice, as they slithered, spun and generally crawled their way around the 1.9 mile circuit.

Beechdean and Preci-Spark had chosen wisely in the very tricky conditions – Howard calling for wets after seeing how slippery the track was on his way round to the grid – and it was the Mercedes that led into Turn 1 as Michael Lyons and David Ashburn fell back. The Aston was through into the lead before the leaders reached the infield for the first time and thereafter Howard began to pull away from the SLS.

The two Ginetta G55s of Ian Stinton (#25 Stark Racing) and Jody Firth (#28 Century Motorsports) as well as the #50 GT4 Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 also started on wets and the sight of these cars circulating in third, fourth and fifth places must have put a smile on the face of a watching Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson. Firth took full advantage of the conditions to secure third place in the #28 up to the pitstops.

That the slicks weren’t working on the slippery track was bad enough for those cars that had chosen them, but when the rain began to fall heavily again after just a few minutes, those same cars had no choice but to pit again to change for wets. David Ashburn was the first to stop for new rubber, and in doing so minimised the damage. Those cars that delayed their stops just continued to make life harder for themselves.

Howard’s lead was more than seven seconds after six laps, by which point he had already lapped the unfortunate Guasch, and had extended beyond ten seconds after ten laps. What wasn’t obvious was that the Aston’s windscreen wipers had failed and it was only the Aston’s pace that was clearing the water from the screen.

John Dhillon had the #13 GT3B Ferrari 430 up to sixth from the back of the grid after just a few laps and was able to hand the older car over to Aaron Scott in seventh once the pit window was open.

The opening laps had turned the positions completely upside down, so that by the time the driver-changes had taken place the likes of Allan Simonsen, Matt Griffin and Alex Mortimer were well outside the top ten and at least a lap down.

Andrew Howard pitted from the lead after 28 minutes to hand over to Jonny Adam after a flawless stint, leaving David Jones to lead by 33 seconds from Jody Firth. When the Mercedes pitted five minutes later, the Beechdean car regained the lead with an advantage of 11 seconds; and, like his teammate earlier, Jonny Adam immediately began to pull away.

As the race continued, so did the conditions continue to change. Phil Keen quickly got a handle on the situation and had soon passed the Stark Racing Ginetta and the #5 Ferrari to move up to fourth. He then began to draw the #28 Ginetta – now with Stefan Hodgetts at the wheel – ever closer. The #1 Porsche caught the G55 on Lap 29 and Keen dived down the inside at Deene. Hodgetts closed the door and contact was made, leaving the Porsche ahead and the Ginetta spinning; but fortunately both cars were undamaged and able to continue.

Allan Simonsen had taken over the #3 Rosso Verde Ferrari Scuderia from Hector Lester in 15^th position, but spent his stint moving up the field; taking sixth from Charles Bateman on the final lap.

Despite reduced visibility in the final few minutes, Jonny Adam crossed the line at the end of 36 laps to take the win as his team cheered from the pitwall.

"Lucky it was wet for the warm-up because that was the first time I had ever driven the car in the wet all the time I’ve had it. First time I have raced it in the wet," said Andrew Howard. "Thank god it did rain for the warm up otherwise we wouldn’t have had a clue. We got a good set up and the car felt really balanced. We went out on slicks on out lap and changed on the grid. There was that much difference.

"Big day, really cool; and it’s Jonny’s birthday."

The SLS finished second, 17 seconds ahead of the Trackspeed Porsche.

"I didn’t think there was a choice when it came to the tyres," said David Jones. "This place is slippery enough in the dry! I thought those who started on slicks were bonkers, all of them."

"We lost about three quarters of a lap because we started on slicks and had to change, otherwise we could have maybe had a win," said Phil Keen, after his first race in the Porsche. "The wipers stopped working half way through my stint, so I couldn’t really see where I was going."

An excellent, and fully deserved, fourth was the Century Motorsport G55, giving a huge fillip to the team and marque; "I knew we had good pace in the wet but it took so long to get temp into the tyres," said Jody Firth. "It was a very bitty sort of few opening laps but once the tyres came in it was OK. Then the car totally steamed up and I couldn’t see a thing. I just had to do my best and was pleased to bring it in third."

Aaron Scott was another to be celebrating an unexpected result as he battled his way to an excellent fifth overall in the GT3B MTECH 430 – the top-placed Ferrari in the race.

GT4 went to the Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 of Dan Denis and David McDonald after a dominant run from both drivers.

"We made the right choice on tyres by sticking to the wets because it started raining pretty much as soon as the race got going," said Dan Denis. "It was great because both the Lotuses were on slicks and had to pit; we were about a lap ahead when I came in and David did a good job to get it home."

"I struggled a bit because the windscreen wipers stopped working so I was struggling to see where I was going," added David McDonald. "Thankfully I had enough of a lead and I did not have to worry too much."

The two Lotuses came home second and third in class, with the #49 Evora of Freddy Nordstrom and Leyton Clarke heading home the #48 of Ollie Jackson and Phil Glew.

The race saw only one retirement – the #6 Speedworks Corvette Z06R of Ron and Piers Jones, which suffered diff failure on the first lap.

MH